Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Druze flag and star are the most prominent symbols, and contain meaning behind their colors



Symbols

The main and only Druze symbol is the Druze star and flag, since they disprove of iconography.  The star and flag are made up of five colors: red(the soul), blue(mental power of the will), green(the mind), yellow(the word), and white(realization of the blue and is materialized).  Each color has a specific meaning that pertains to a metaphysical power known as Haad, which literally means limit.  Rituals pertaining to these ideas are symbolic themselves because they create an individualistic effect by allowing one to grow mentally.  Some of these rituals include not smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol.
This image shows the celebrations of eid al adha 

Calendar

In accordance with their isolation life style, the observance of holidays is not important to the Druze.  They do hold religious festivals though yearly in which most celebrate joyously and recognize holy men and women and prophets.  With this being said, there is one Islamic holiday that the Druze to participate in and that is Eid al Adha.  They see this holiday as a time to give thanks to God for his mercy and kindness.  Eid al Adha occurs at the end of the hajj, or the pilgrimage to mecca, and is a festival of sacrifice. It marks the moment when the Lord came to Abraham and told him to sacrifice his son.  Many like to sacrifice an animal in commemoration of this in addition to celebrations in the streets.

Primary Practices

The Druze have seven pillars to which they hold sacred and make up their moral system.  The seven Pillars:  speaking the truth within, helping the community, abandoning false beliefs, avoidance of confusion and evil, accept divine unity in humanity, acceptance of al-Hakim's acts, submission in accordance to al-Hakim's will.  In addition, the Druze do not accept converts and only the initiated can read the Druze writings and attend secret rituals.  If the Druze fear that their religion is a threat to their lives or because of military conflicts, then they can and will deny their faith and/or pretend to practice the majority religion wherever they are.
A Druze Temple where rituals are held
A book explaining the pillars of Islam
Their practices are various Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, Neoplatonic, and Iranian elements, however, are combined under a doctrine of strict monotheism, believing    that God had manifested himself as Al-Hakim Bi-amr allah.  They believe in the transmigration of the soul, and work hard in live to ensure this goes smoothly after death. Druze hold the Qur'an to be sacred, but look upon it as an outer shell, holding an "inner, esoteric meaning" and do not read from it daily, in fact they do not practice reading a creed or in obtaining multiple wives and fasting. Their religious texts are known collectively as "Kitab Al Hikma", the book of wisdom.  The Druze believe that prayer and ritual are unnecessary, and consider it to be a state of being, not something that one does at different parts of the day

(Left: A woman surrounded by cloth in the shape of prayer hands showing that prayer is a part of us)


Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Red areas indicate the highest concentration of Druze communities throughout the world.


This map shows the areas where the Druze reside in the Middle East